A bruised palm is generally treated by taking anti-inflammatory medications to relieve discomfort and swelling. Elevating the hand higher than the heart also can improves blood flow and circulation, which helps promote healing. Many people believe that the application of a hot pack or heating pad is beneficial in relieving pain, however, heat can make pain and swelling worse. Ice packs will dramatically bring down swelling and reduce pain, so they should be applied four times a day, until symptoms subside.

A bruised palm is generally caused by an impact or traumatic injury to the soft tissue. The pain from the injury can range from mild to severe. However, with proper treatment, pain generally subsides within one week. In addition to bruising and pain, this condition can produce inflammation, loss of movement, numbness, and warmth over the affected area. To rule out broken bones, ligament damage, or tendon damage, the health care provider may recommend an x-ray, ultrasound, or MRI examination. Rarely, a bruised palm can be the result of a bleeding disorder or anticoagulant medications.

Ad

Occasionally, the health care provider will recommend the affected hand be immobilized with a hand splint. Too much movement immediately following the injury can aggravate the injury and promote further bleeding into the tissues. Sometimes, the pain from a bruised palm is severe enough to warrant prescription pain medications. These medications frequently are a combination of codeine and acetaminophen, and although highly effective in treating moderate to severe pain, they do not help to reduce swelling.

Taking prescription pain medications to treat a bruised palm can cause significant side effects. These include drowsiness, confusion, dizziness, and blurred vision. Also, nausea, headache, constipation, and urinary retention can occur. Codeine-based analgesics should only be taken when pain is severe, and only under the strict supervision of the health care professional, as these medications can be highly addictive. Driving a motor vehicle or operating dangerous machinery should also be avoided when taken prescription pain relievers to avoid accidents.

In instances where pain is persistent and prolonged, the health care provider might recommend that the individual receive physical or occupational therapy. Rehabilitative services can help restore mobility, improve circulation, and reduce pain. A standard session of occupational therapy for a hand injury is generally about six weeks in duration. Although the individual may not notice an improvement right away, as time goes by, he will gradually notice an improvement in mobility, pain, and inflammation.

Discuss this Article

anon941864Post 5

This was helpful! I slipped wearing sneakers with near no tread (big mistake) and smashed my palm on the concrete floor. Its an inner palm injury. I'm taking a break from the weight room for r.i.c.e treatment. I should have done so from the get go but the injury proved more serious than initially anticipated. It's a hard habit to kick training with injuries, fitness addiction.

healthy4lifePost 4

I can't tolerate strong pain pills, so I just had to make do with ice packs and OTC analgesics when I had a bruised palm. Pain pills make me very sick at my stomach, and I get itchy all over.

I suppose this means I'm allergic to them. I'm just glad that I can take OTC medicine, because it would be hard to have nothing at all to relieve the pain.

StarJoPost 3

@kylee07drg – I know how easy it is to hurt a bruised palm over and over. When I bruised mine after falling on the concrete in the carport, I figured out quickly that I needed to protect it as it healed.

I stuffed a cotton glove with extra padding and wore it on the injured hand. I did get some strange looks while wearing this, because it was the middle of the summer, but it offered good protection from further pain.

seag47Post 2

It's easy to bruise your palm when you are angry. I tend to smack my hands against tabletops and countertops when I'm trying to drive my point home, and I forget exactly how much this is going to hurt until it's too late.

I bruised my left palm badly like this last year. I had some pain killers left over from another injury, so I took those for the first night. After that, the pain lessened, and over-the-counter pain medication worked fine.

kylee07drgPost 1

I injured the palm of my hand by thrusting it at a brick wall in the dark. I didn't know how close I was to the wall, and I had shot forth my hand to feel my way around.

I immediately felt throbbing pain in my hand. I put a bag of ice on it right away, because I knew that this would keep the swelling to a minimum.

For about a week after this incident, my palm would hurt a lot if it bumped into anything even gently. I would forget that it was injured until something pressed up against it, and then, I was painfully reminded.

Post your comments

Please enter the code:

Login

Register

Make changes/additions/deletions to the article below, and one of our editors will publish your suggestions if warranted.

Optional: Explanation of your recommended changes

Thank You!

One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted.
Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive,
this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!